God Comes to Solomon Again

9 So Solomon
finished building the Lord’s
temple and his own palace. Solomon built
all the things that he wanted to build.
2Then
the Lord appeared to Solomon again, just as
he had done before in the town of Gibeon.
3The Lord said to
him: “I heard your prayer. I
heard the things that you asked me to do. You
built this temple. And I have made it a holy
place. So I will be honored there forever. I
will watch over it and think of it always.
4You
must serve me the same way your father
David did. He was fair and sincere. And you
must obey my laws and do all the things that I
commanded you.
5“If you do all
these things, then I will
make sure that the king of Israel is always
someone from your family. This is the
promise I made to your father David. I told
him that Israel would always be ruled by one
of his descendants.* 6–7“But if you or
your children stop
following me, and don’t obey the laws and
commands I have given you, and if you serve
and worship other gods, then I will force Israel
to leave the land I have given to them. Israel
will be an example to other people. Other
people will make jokes about Israel. I made the
temple holy. It is the place where people honor
me. But {if
you don’t obey me,} then I will tear
it down. 8This
temple will be destroyed. Every
person who sees it will be amazed. They will
ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to
this land and to this temple?’
9Other
people
will answer, ‘This happened because they left
the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors
out of Egypt. But they decided to follow other
gods. They began to worship and serve those
gods. That is why the Lord caused all these bad
things to happen to them.’”
10It took 20 years
for King Solomon to
build the Lord’s temple and the king’s
palace.* 11And
after 20 years King Solomon
gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram the king of
Tyre. Solomon gave King Hiram these towns
because Hiram helped Solomon build the
temple and the palace. Hiram gave Solomon
all the cedar and pine and gold that Solomon
wanted. 12So
Hiram traveled from Tyre to see
the towns that Solomon gave him. When
Hiram saw those towns, he was not pleased.
13King Hiram said,
“What are these towns that
you have given me, my brother?” King Hiram
named that land the Land of Cabul.* And that
area is still called Cabul today.
14Hiram
had
sent to King Solomon about 9,000 pounds* of
gold {to
use in building the temple}. 15King Solomon
forced slaves to work for
him to build the temple and the palace. Then
King Solomon used these slaves to build
many other things. He built the Millo.* He
also built the city wall around Jerusalem.
Then he built again the cities of Hazor,
Megiddo, and Gezer.
16In the past, the
king of Egypt fought
against the city of Gezer and burned it. He
killed the Canaanite people who lived there.
Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter. So Pharaoh gave that city to Solomon as a
wedding present.
17Solomon
built that city
again. Solomon also built the city of Lower
Beth Horon. 18King
Solomon also built the
cities of Baalath and Tamar in the Judean
desert. 19King
Solomon also built cities where
he could store grain and things. And he built
places for his chariots and his horses. King
Solomon also built many things that he
wanted in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all
the places he ruled.
20There were people
in the land that were
not Israelites. Those people were the
Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Hivites, and the Jebusites.
21The
Israelites had
not been able to destroy those people. But
Solomon forced them to work for him as
slaves. They are still slaves today.
22Solomon
did not force any Israelites to be his slaves.
The people of Israel were soldiers,
government officials, officers, captains, and
chariot commanders and drivers.
23There were 550
supervisors over
Solomon’s projects. They were bosses over
the men who did the work.
24Pharaoh’s
daughter moved from the City of David to the
big house that Solomon built for her. Then
Solomon built the Millo.* 25Three times each
year Solomon offered
burned sacrifices and fellowship offerings on
the altar. This is the altar that Solomon built
for the Lord. King Solomon also burned
incense before the Lord. So he supplied the
things needed for the temple.
26King Solomon also
built ships at Ezion
Geber. This town is near Elath on the shore of
the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27King
Hiram had some men who knew much about
the sea. Those men often traveled in ships.
King Hiram sent those men to serve in
Solomon’s navy and work with Solomon’s
men. 28Solomon’s
ships went to Ophir. The
ships brought about 31,500 pounds* of gold
back from Ophir to King Solomon.

descendants A person’s children and all of their future
families.
palace A large house for the king and his family.
Cabul This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “worthless.”
9,000 pounds Or “4080kg. Literally, “120 talents.”
Millo The Millo was probably a raised platform of land
southeast of the temple area in Jerusalem.
31,500 pounds Or, “14,280kg.” Literally, “420 talents.”